Political Satire: How does it Affect the Republicans?

News circulated that the success of the democratic party had to do with political satire on late night television...also known as Saturday Night Live. The crushing accusations of John McCain having a strong affiliation with George W. Bush (thanks to the Will Ferrell impression of George W. Bush), the infamous resemblance of former cast member Tina Fey with Sarah Palin, and the admission that Chevy Chase purposefully made Gerald Ford look foolish because of his support for Jimmy Carter all topped media news as ammunition for the network's political affiliation.




While these infiltrated the minds of SNL viewers, these sketches cannot be blamed for the Republican downfall. Political satire (particularly that of SNL) attempts to draw out actual tendencies of people and exaggerate them for the sake of humor. This was done with Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi (her attitude during the Bailout announcement), and Bill Clinton (the MSNBC interview) in the same manner that the Republicans were beaten.

Sarah Palin. She was a media sensation. She was constantly the focus of media attention and to places like SNL, she was a gold mine for sketch comedy. Brian Kilmeade and several felt like Sarah Palin was sandbagged and slaughtered during her cameo appearance of SNL. While many would agree that there was negativity in her portrayal and made to look foolish, this is part of the REPUBLICAN problem.

When democrats attack us, we cannot be defeated. Being able to laugh at ourselves, not seeming like we are a group of old-crochety men, and staying focused on our message, will help the unfair shots at our stance and morals. Unfairness in political satire will always infiltrate the media. We must be stronger than it. And, in the words of Barack Obama, "YES, we can!"